David Goffin broke a two-match losing streak against Filip Krajinovic on Friday for a place in the US Open fourth round for the fourth consecutive year.
In a match that featured 11 breaks of serve, it was Goffin who repelled Krajinovic’s power to win 6-1, 7-6(5), 6-4 in two hours and five minutes. Goffin, who hit 36 winners, will now challenge Canadian No. 12 seed Denis Shapovalov or No. 19 seed Taylor Fritz of the United States.
Goffin secured the first four games of the match, winning the 16 of 22 points. He wrapped up the 27-minute set when Krajinovic hit a backhand slice wide.
Krajinovic, who continued to struggle on second serve, managed to break Goffin for the first time early in the second set, but through 10 games there had been six service breaks. When Krajinovic hit a forehand wide to be broken at 4-4, Goffin appeared to take control, but the World No. 10 could not convert a set point. He made amends in the tie-break, winning the first four points and carried the momentum when Krajinovic hooked a forehand wide at 5/6.
From 1-1 in the third set, Goffin won 12 of the next 14 points, including four straight points at 2-1, after Krajinovic had served with a 30/0 lead. Krajinovic, sensing his last chance to get back into the match, stepped up to recover to 4-4, but soon faltered.
Krajinovic had won their past two ATP Head2Head meetings in 2019 at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier and the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
